VERO VERDI, Volkshaus Basel, Samstag, 24. November 2018

VERO VERDI is a big international project, whose aim is to perform Verdi’s music exactly as Giuseppe Verdi would have done. This can appear quite obvious at a first sight, but actually Verdi’s operas are always performed with some differences with respect to the Maestro’s willing. This is because of two reasons:

The tuning. Guiseppe Verdiplaced A exactly at 432 Hz. He did this because this tuning is ideal for opera voices. The modern era forgot about this tuning because in 1885 it already had been decided that A at 440 Hz had to be the standard tuning. A year earlier, Guiseppe Verdi wrote a letter addressed to the Music Commission of the Italian Government. In the letter he writes that he strongly recommended to step back to the 432 tuning, because it was simply the best for the human voice in general, and specifically for his operas. But despite this letter, the A remained at 432 Hz.
The score. Almost always Verdi’s music is susceptible to cuts and variations (so called “traditionals”). This occurs because of singers’ exigeances, and because of the willing to make some concerts or operas shorter. But this was not what Verdi wrote.

The concerts and operas under the VERO VERDI projects are performed with the Verdi tuning (432 Hz) and with the full respect of the original score.

This recital, which officially launchs the project, is a big Verdi Gala: 3 hours’ music with the most well known Verdi’s melodies from Traviata, Trovatore, Rigoletto, Aida, Nabucco, Macbeth, Don Carlos and much more.

With the Swarowsky orchestra conducted by Damiano Cerutti and L.A. Chorus conducted by Luisa Corsini.